S. Giménez-Roldán, C. Guijarro Castro
Neurosciences and History 2025;13(4): 243-257
Article type: REVIEW
AUTHORS
S. Giménez-Roldán1, C. Guijarro Castro2
1Former head of the Department of Neurology. Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain.
2Medical inspector. Subdirección General de Calidad Asistencial, Dirección General de Salud Pública y Equidad en Salud, Ministerio de Sanidad, Madrid, Spain.
This study was presented as an online lecture on 24 October 2025 as part of an event promoted by the Spanish Ministry of Health to commemorate World Polio Day.
ABSTRACT
Humanity has been scourged by poliomyelitis for millennia; the great success of its prevention with vaccines is tempered only by the failure of its total eradication. It has been a long journey: in the early 19th century, the concept of paralysis still lacked a clear definition, and only the genius of Charcot demonstrated the relationship between the anterior horn of the spinal cord and atrophic paralysis, differentiating between acute forms, which are inflammatory, and chronic/progressive forms, which are degenerative. Poliomyelitis often appears in epidemic outbreaks, and authors in the early 20th century mention its supposed rareness. In the first years of the 20th century, Allen Starr gathered data on polio outbreaks in small populations, but also in large cities, with an outbreak in Copenhagen causing hundreds of deaths. Since the identification of the three poliovirus serotypes, the disease has been eradicated worldwide, with limited endemic foci in some specific countries. The long history of this persistent infection includes the failures of electrotherapy, the primitive “iron lungs,” and hydrotherapy sessions, which were immortalised by the painter Joaquín Sorolla. Post-polio syndrome, in which the disease appears to progress with worsening of disability after a long period of stability, is a novel challenge. The re-emergence of the disease in impoverished populations, despite inoculation with live virus vaccines, represents another new challenge we face in our days.
KEYWORDS
Acute anterior poliomyelitis, healthcare, epidemics, history, Charcot, Sabin, intensive care, disability, post-polio syndrome
Neurosciences and History 2025;13(4): 243-257